Paul Allen has just set aside $100 million simulate a living cell. What kind of cell you might ask? All kinds of cells would probably be his answer, because if you can build the operating system for one, you will know them all.

While the bread and butter of any brain interface is stimulating and recording neurons, there is much more to the brain than that. Researchers from Osaka have now perfected a way to watch neurons actually move within their element; a way at least we might say, to capture what it is they might actually be doing.

Imagine a smartphone-sized device that creates a real-time 3D virtual window into your internal organs when you hold it up to your body — at a much higher resolution than conventional ultrasonography. This new tech would, I’m sure, make for quite a selfie. But that’s not where it all ends. The same technology will enable precise delivery of ultrasonic power to destroy cancer cells, or communicate with devices inside the brain.

A cool project to build a high-power digital microscope recently showed up on the instructables website. Ten minutes and twenty dollars may be a little bit optimistic, but the interesting video makes it look fairly easy.

If you’ve ever wondered how much energy it takes to perform a full body scan, consider this: a new MRI designed to probe the deep structure of the brain uses a magnet more powerful than the ones inside the Large Hadron Collider.

Intracranial pressure (ICP) is notoriously difficult to guage without a highly invasive procedure, yet in terms of predictive value, it gives perhaps the most bang for the buck in a wide variety of circumstances. Two new startups, HeadSense and Third Eye Diagnostics have caught the attention of the bigger players by coming up with unique technology to measure ICP without all the mess.

A group from the University of California at Riverside has recently demonstrated a new ceramic bone replacement which would enable imaging of the brain through the skull. By implanting a small window in a mouse, and then characterizing its optical performance, then have opened up many new possibilities for brain recording and stimulation.

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